Christin McClean
Christin McClean (alternatively spelled Christin McLean) is TDI host Chris McLean’s sixteen-year-old niece and one of the main characters in LIFE AS AN EX-REALITY TV SHOW CONTESTANT. Shy, sincere and artistic, she has lived a fairly sheltered life and, during the series, lives with her uncle while her mother works overseas temporarily. Personality Christin is shy, soft-spoken, and unconfident – all traits that make it difficult for others to believe she is related in any way to Chris, her uncle. While intelligent, creative and an excellent artist, Christin is submissive and has apparent difficulty becoming close to new people, both of which likely result from her home life and particularly her mother’s influence; Christin’s mother, a businesswoman, had various promotions and transfers throughout her career that left Christin constantly switching schools, and her mother was overprotective and controlling of her daughter. In spite of this, Christin is surprisingly self-sufficient and independent when left to her own devices, being an excellent cook and appearing to take care of herself with little help from her uncle. She appears to be a relatively good judge of character, quickly deciphering advances by Justin as insincere and instead befriending the nervous and well-intentioned Ezekiel. She also appears to enjoy fantasy stories, and is a vegetarian. Biography Early Life Christin spent her childhood moving around both Canada and the United States due to her mother’s business career, which led to fairly common promotions and transfers. At some point when Christin was young her parents divorced, and she has had limited contact with her father since. Shortly after their divorce, she apparently informed her mother that she wished to be an artist like her father, to which her mother laughed and asked what “career” she would like to pursue. She was homeschooled for a period of time and received the rest of her education in private schools, due to her mother’s belief that public schools were a “bad influence”. At some point before her junior year in high school, she and her mother settled in California; over the summer preceding the start of eleventh grade, her mother received an offer to work overseas for a year, and she left Christin under the watch of her brother so she could focus on work rather than helping Christin adjust to life in a foreign country. LIFE AS AN EX-REALITY TV SHOW CONTESTANT Christin first appears midway through the first chapter of EX, as a girl drawing in her sketchbook in Gwen’s homeroom; Gwen becomes somewhat unnerved due to unconsciously noting the girl’s resemblance to Chris. Later, she also appears in Gwen’s classes. Her true introduction occurs at lunchtime, where Han panics over “white stuff in her milk” and tosses it into the air, where it ends up landing on Heather and knocking off her wig. Christin has the misfortune of sitting in the general area where the milk was thrown from, and is unaware of the goings-on due to being focused on drawing in her sketchbook, which Heather interprets as her pretending to be preoccupied due to guilt. Heather then angrily confronts a confused and flustered Christin, even threatening to ruin her sketchbook when she insists she was not the culprit, until Gwen steps forth to stand up for her. After leaving the cafeteria, Gwen and Christin introduce themselves to each other, with Gwen being stunned to discover Christin is a McLean (though she appears somewhat relieved to discover she is Chris’ niece, rather than his daughter). By the end of the day, Christin has clearly befriended Gwen along with the rest of her companions. Christin serves as the narrator for chapter two, revealing a passion for fantasy stories and cooking, along with her rather cold relationship with her uncle (though by no means due to lack of effort on her part). At school, Heather quickly begins exacting revenge against her perceived enemy, through a series of irritating and demeaning yet subtle “attacks” (including slamming her locker shut before she can get her books, knocking her over during PE, dumping milk on the chair she is about to sit on, et cetera). She also meets DJ during a particularly disastrous PE class, and again at lunch, at which point it is clear she is developing a crush on him. By the end of the day, her new friend LeShawna helps her get back at Heather by placing a clump of unidentifiable cafeteria food in her purse. In chapter three, Christin arrives at school after the rest of her companions, having been running late (as can be surmised by her still-damp, quickly freezing hair). The next day, while having a “girl’s day out” at the mall with Courtney, Gwen and LeShawna, she runs into DJ, who had been browsing at the pet shop. Forced into trying on an uncharacteristically form-fitting ensemble, the insecure Christin admits to DJ that she is afraid of being noticed more for her figure than for herself, and after being reassured by him, is clearly flattered and chooses to purchase the new clothing. She receives much new attention when wearing the more attractive outfit at school a few days after, even from the notorious heartthrob Justin; she rejects his clearly insincere advances, instead befriending the nervous and friendless Ezekiel. She also reveals that she was, at one point, homeschooled due to her mother’s beliefs that the public schools were a “bad influence” on her. She does not appear in chapter four, but is mentioned by Noah as Andrea’s “artist friend” who had recently been “thrust into the spotlight”. Chapter five of the series delves into Christin’s relationship both with her mother and her uncle, as well as revealing much of her and her family’s past, in particular her mother’s divorce of her artist husband when Christin was young. During a conversation with Christin’s mother, Crystal, he notes that Christin’s uptight personality is likely due to her mother’s desire to have control over all aspects of her and her daughter’s lives. Christin also reveals that her mother expects her to become a businessman or lawyer, and is not supportive of her passion for art. For these reasons, she has not told her mother of her plans to apply to art college and fears she will never be brave enough to do so. Other Appearances Christin was one of the competitors in Sunshine’s first competition series, Total Drama Fame. She was on the Screaming Superstars team, and shared an apartment with Han and Samantha. In the first challenge, she appeared nervous when required to jump from a plane, but did so anyways to contribute to her team’s first win. She also appeared as a competitor in Oweguy’s short-lived competition series Total Drama Disney, where she was a member of Team Mickey. In the first chapter, Heather trips and slams into Harold, and blames Christin in a situation similar to the first chapter of EX, being defended by LeShawna and Gwen. When Chris arrives for the group in a tour bus, she is surprised like the rest of the cast, but calls him “Uncle McClean” rather than Chris. Her team wins the first challenge. In the second chapter, she appears when DJ hides behind her and Yizzy upon being scared by a snake, both girls smiling at him; her team wins the first part of the challenge when they locate a hippo. In TDI19’s first season of TDI Bachelorette, Christin holds the title of the first bachelorette, due to her uncle producing the show. In this appearance she seems a bit more confident and, in some ways, moody, chastising her uncle for teasing her and insisting she is capable of speaking for herself rather than relying on a teleprompter. She shows early preference to Justin and, surprisingly, Ezekiel (who flatters her by noting her attractiveness), as well as appearing uncomfortable around Cody and Harold. In the second chapter, she bonds with DJ over their shared love of nature, and the two share a moment in her secret garden sanctuary. Later, she is embarrassed to find Duncan watching her change. She ends up picking Justin as the winner of the first challenge, a swimsuit modeling contest. Christin also appears as first-grade teacher Ms. McClean in the first season of Total Wikia Elementary. Though she has the best of intentions, she is overworked and frequently taken advantage of by her students, and is clearly not prepared to deal with the absolute insanity her class causes. By the end of the first season she is exasperated to the point that, upon an upset Sunshine realizing that Ms. McClean will not be able to teach them over summer vacation, she responds with a sigh of relief, “I know, isn’t it wonderful?” When Nalyd sees her after the break, her new class is apparently lighting her desk on fire; and when the group sees her shortly before the next summer at the Elementary School Olympics, her eye immediately begins twitching in horror, and moments later she flees the school screaming when Grandpa Omar arrives and asks her if she remembers him. Relationships Friends and Classmates Prior to the beginning of the series, Christin apparently made a small group of friends in her temporary home (likely over the summer while TDI was still going on). This group consists of Hannah “Han” Lotta, Samantha Clover, Andrea Libro, Lucas Cattivo and Yoshi Genki. Of these five, Christin appears to be closest with the three girls, in particular Samantha, who vehemently defends her from Heather in chapter two with a stream of curse words. Han also boldly defends her in chapter one, but also appears to enjoy annoying Christin, in particular by bluntly teasing her for her apparent crush on DJ in chapter two – however, it is worth pointing out that Han enjoys annoying everyone. Andrea is generally too absorbed in her novels to interact with Christin, but does robotically block her ears from Samantha’s cursing in chapter two, suggesting she does look out for Christin in a way. Neither Yoshi nor Lucas has been seen directly interacting with Christin as of yet, but she apparently retains a friendly relationship with both. After the first chapter, Christin also befriends a group of former TDI competitors, particularly Gwen, who shares her artistic nature and antagonistic relationship with Heather; the two bond when Gwen defends Christin from a misguided accusation by Heather. LeShawna also forms a close friendship with Christin following these events, being fascinated by her former life in California as well as helping defend her against Heather, and trying to assure her of her attractiveness when she is uncertain about purchasing a more form-fitting outfit. Though not as close with her as the other two girls, Courtney also appears friendly with Christin, reassuring her when she is tormented by Heather and joining her, Gwen and LeShawna on a shopping trip. By extension, Christin also appears to be friends with Trent and Duncan, Gwen and Courtney’s respective boyfriends, though she does not seem especially close with Trent and Duncan frequently teases her (albeit apparently good-naturedly so). She also appears at least on good terms with Bridgette (and by extension, probably Geoff) in chapter two, though they are not very close and have not had any notable interactions. Romantic Interests By the third chapter, Christin has apparently gained a few potential romantic interests. The first and most prominent of these is DJ, who Christin meets during a disastrous PE class and quickly forms a crush on; chapter three clearly indicates he returns these feelings, and he reassures Christin when she is uncertain about dressing more attractively, fearing people will begin liking her for her appearance rather than her personality. Upon wearing a more form-fitting outfit and gaining notice from her classmates, she also attracts the superficial attentions of Justin, who clearly is interested in her more because of her appearance and rising popularity than because he actually has feelings for her. For these reasons, she rejects his advances. It would also appear that Ezekiel has formed a crush on her, as she is one of very few people to be friendly towards him, though for the time being she regards him only as a friend. Antagonists From her very first appearance, Christin has clearly gotten off on the wrong foot with Heather, who incorrectly believes her to be the instigator of a humiliating incident where she had a milk carton (with unidentified “white stuff” in it) thrown at her, covering her in milk as well as knocking off her wig in front of the entire cafeteria. Christin’s insistence that she was not the culprit and subsequent defense by Gwen only worsened the queen bee’s opinion of her, and she has subsequently made it her mission to ostracize and torment Christin. By extension, Heather’s cronies Emily Linghun and Daisy Fleur also have an antagonistic relationship with Christin; however, it is worth noting that neither one has any personal vendettas with her, and were it not for their affiliation with Heather, would probably be more or less friendly to her (Daisy especially indicates this when she is amiable to Gwen right up until the point that Heather informs her that she is the “enemy”). Family Christin has somewhat of an unusual family life, and not a particularly good relationship with any of her family members. Her mother, Crystal McClean, appears to have a controlling and overprotective relationship with her daughter, constantly fearful of “bad influences” towards her daughter and apparently disregarding Christin’s childhood admission of wanting to be an artist, instead believing her daughter will one day be a prominent businesswoman or lawyer. By contrast, Christin apparently had a good relationship with her father, but has not had much (if any) contact with him since he and her mother divorced. Her relationship with her uncle, Chris McClean, has seemed distant yet warming. Chris clearly resents having to be responsible for the girl and repeatedly complains about her calling him “Uncle McClean”, which he believes makes him sound old. He frequently leaves Christin to care for herself and make her own decisions, delegating cooking to her and showing no issue with Christin going to the mall with her friends or stopping by the library after school, and being much less protective of her than her mother. Their relationship warms in chapter five, where Christin confides in Chris how she misses her father and is uncertain she will ever be able to stand up to her mother; while Chris is uncomfortable with being so trusted, a part of him seems to be becoming affectionate towards his niece, and he becomes less resentful of her presence upon realizing that Christin has “inside info” on his sister Crystal (with whom he has an especially poor relationship with). Gallery File:Christin McClean.jpg|Christin's original image. File:Cute Christin.JPG|Christin in her alternate outfit. File:Sunshine's Early Christin Sketch.jpg|A sketch of Christin in a tree. File:Sunshine's Incomplete TDF Logo.jpg|Logo sketch for Total Drama Fame; Christin can be seen at the far right. File:Christin Designs.jpg|Sketches for Christin makeover/outfit designs. File:Ms. McClean.jpg|Christin as TWE's Ms. McClean. Trivia *Christin is one of two of the characters created for EX who was not based on a friend of the authoress, the other being Daisy Fleur. *However, some of Christin’s traits – her love for art and vegetarianism, in particular – were based on the authoress herself. *Christin was the first of the authoress’ original TDI characters to be thought of, designed, drawn and posted on the website. **In fact, Christin was indirectly responsible for the creation of the Sunshineandravioli account – as an anonymous user, she could not post images, so an account was created in order to be able to post Christin’s image in her profile. *Christin’s original design was based heavily on Chris’s, such as the hair and skin colors, hairstyle, and eye style (a feminized version of his “dot eyes”). **In her new image, her eyes were based partially on the eye style of several Professor Layton characters, as the series often uses female characters with “dot eyes”. In particular, her eyes resemble those of Claire Foley, whose eye style is also used in another one of the authoress’ characters, Maria Layton. *Christin’s name is pronounced the same as the name “Kristin”. It was modified so the name “Chris” would be in it, an obvious reference to her uncle. *Just like Chris’s, the spelling of Christin’s surname is debated and varies from writer to writer. *Christin is one of the authoress’ most commonly used characters, aside from her author surrogate; Christin was also the first to appear in a series not written by the authoress. **Christin was also the only non-Pasti character to not only compete in but win a camp, triumphing in Nalyd Renrut’s TDI Camp 4 (fittingly enough, against Heather, who served as her rival in the camp as well). *Christin’s “fairy tale” dream in chapter two was actually expanded into an outline for a full story, using TDI characters as well as the original EX characters in the roles. The story has not yet been written, but very well might be someday, depending on reader and author interest. *Christin’s eyes were described as being hazel in the first chapter of EX, but have been described and drawn as dark brown or black in every subsequent appearance.